Englewood, Colorado. On second thought, Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said on Tuesday that he “definitely” should have left the quarterback. Russell Wilson Play a 4th and 5th play in the final seconds of Monday night’s loss in Seattle instead of sending a kicker Brandon McManus To try a 64-yard field goal.
“Looking back, we sure should have gone for it,” Hackett said. “One of those things, you look at it and say ‘Of course we have to go, we missed the field goal. “But in this case we had a plan, and we knew 46 was the mark.”
McManus’ field goal attempt went wide to the left, and Hackett’s decision overwhelmed nearly everything around his regular season debut as head coach.
Only two NFL balls, since 1960, have made field attempts of at least 64 yards, and the longest field goal in Lumen Field history was 56 yards.
McManus, who has one of the strongest legs of any kicker in the league, is still 1 of 5, including Monday night’s wasting, in attempts at least 60 yards in his career. Also, last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, teams converted 48 percent of their fourth and fifth plays.
Hackett said he understood how few kickers attempted at least 64 yards – only Matt Prater at 64 yards in 2013 and Justin Tucker With the record 66 yards set in 2021—but after talking to the specials coaches as well as McManus in the preliminary game, they decided whether the team hit the Seahawks’ 46-yard line at the break or finish—in the case of the game, McManus will attempt the kick.
Wilson was aware of the decision that the field goal attempt would occur fourth down if the Broncos reached the Seahawks 46 in third before the Broncos faced the decision in their final drive. At 3-14, Wilson completed a 9-yard pass to run back Javonte Williams Who moved the ball to Seattle 46.
“We’d go for it,” Hackett said on Tuesday if Williams had gained one yard less.
“We said 46 yards, the 46-yard line was where we wanted to be,” Hackett said. “…It didn’t work, it sucks, but hey, that’s part of it.
“It’s part of being in that seat, being in this profession. These things are going to happen all the time, they happen throughout my career, even when my dad was a coach, you’re ready for that, you understand that. You have to keep grinding.”
Hackett also said “we shouldn’t have been in this situation,” given that the Broncos lost two game steps on starts from Seahawks 1 on consecutive possessions in the third quarter and another drive was derailed by a false start from a penalty at Seahawks 3 Wilson finished the game with a 340-yard pass as the Broncos outscored the Seahawks on a total of 433-253.
The Broncos defense kept the Seahawks’ goalless attack at just 34 yards in the second half as well.
“In the end, that falls on me, that was our plan, that was the yard line we had to get to, we all knew it, that’s what we said at the rally before we did it,” said Hackett. “I should never have had that. … Obviously the final decision you would say you should have done, you should have done it, but I think what frustrates me the most is the red zone. We had some many chances. We were inches away.”